


Perchance to Dream

by SensationalSunburst



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, How Do You Lose a Hypnos? You forget to Cherish Him, Hurt/Comfort, Hypnos-Centric - Freeform, Nyx's A+ Parenting, Post-Canon, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SensationalSunburst/pseuds/SensationalSunburst
Summary: Zagreus always made stepping from the Styx look painless and elegant, what with the way he shook its blood-red waters from his hair as he strolled through an unending rain of snow-white flower petals.Hypnos figured that practice must have made perfect as he clumsily clawed his way from its depths, weighed down by both his own Styx soaked cloak and a general inability to get his trembling legs to hold his weight.ORIn the Iilad, Hera has Hypnos put Zeus to sleep so she can go cause havoc. In the original myth, Hypnos escaped Zeus's wrath by fleeing to his mother, Nyx, for saftey. Zeus immediately backed down, unwilling to fight against the night.In Hades, Hypnos wouldn't have that option.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Hades Video Game), Hypnos & Nyx (Hades Video Game), Hypnos & Thanatos (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 54
Kudos: 310





	1. There & Back Again

**Author's Note:**

> This work was inspired by [this amazing piece of art of Hypnos emerging from the Styx.](https://koipalm.tumblr.com/post/637637176020140032/what-happened-hypnos)  
> Hera's design was based on [this piece of art.](https://erdjie.tumblr.com/post/636881894576881664/my-personal-take-on-goddess-hera-the-queen-of-the)

Hypnos didn’t like the look on Hermes’s face. 

They were both smiling, as was their custom, but Hypnos knew that Hermes could see his concern just as Hermes knew that Hypnos could see the grimace squirming behind his teeth. 

The gold-trimmed letter in Hermes’s hand was nothing but trouble, and Hypnos was trying desperately these days to stay out of it. 

“It’s cold up there, my friend. Dress warmly. Now, gotta, go, can’t get behind. Give my dear associate my regards!” Hermes’s entire person dipped with his two-fingered salute before he was gone in a flash of feathers and the warm, scent of summer. The shades in line turned to follow his path like sunflowers. 

Hypnos took a moment to gather his courage before he looked at the roll of parchment in his hand and let loose startled laugh at the lotus-tipped staff stamped harshly into golden wax.

Hera. 

Wonderful. 

Stuffing the summons into the folds of his quilted cape, he drifted to float before Hades's massive desk and cleared his throat. Hades's full attention, when he lifted his head to glare down at Hypnos, had an almost palpable weight, enough that Hypnos forced his grin even wider to hide the way it pushed him closer to the floor. 

"My Lord Hades, I need to request some time off." 

He was an independent, capable god. He could solve his problems on his own. 

* * *

At the base of Mount Olympus, Hypnos briefly glanced over Hera's letter again. 

_Aid me in this,_ she'd written, furious if the depth of her script was anything to go by, _and your prince shall have the best from Olympus. Deny me and he shall never see a single boon again._

Hypnos was foolish but no fool. His twin was Death itself and Hera's entire letter rattled with the toll of Thanatos's bell. 

_I'm an independent, capable god_ , Hypnos told himself, _my problems are my own to solve_.

Hera had found the burning weak spot of what was likely the entire Underworld, his included, and Hypnos had used his pathetic teleportation to move from the House to the Temple and away the moment that Lord Hades had granted his leave. He wouldn't have much energy left to escape, if any, judging from the slow transformation of his limbs to lead as he climbed the absurd number of stairs to their marble acropolis. Demeter's winter lost its grip as he slowly made his way up and into the heavily perfumed hall, leaving him uncomfortably warm beneath his quilt. 

"Hypnos, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Ares slipped out from the shadows of a massive pillar the moment Hypnos's sandal skidded across Olympus's gleaming marble. Hypnos couldn't remember ever giving the god his name, but Ares’s infatuation with Thanatos was well known enough for it to be unsurprising. He was tall, as imposing as Than had always claimed with his shock of white war paint, but he was missing the vicious smirk and menacing air his brother described leering at him across battlefields. 

"Lord Ares! I'm on a mission from the Queen. Your queen, I mean, not mine!" He wiggled the sleeping tonic he'd brought for his cover story between his fingers, slipping into the air and pulling his lips up into a lazy grin. 

"Be cautious, O Sleep," Ares's eyes narrowed and he stepped forward, his voice scraping like a sword against a shield, "Let not our gilded halls deceive you. Olympus is just as dangerous as your Underworld." 

Again, Hypnos let loose a string of anxious giggles, "Don't I know it! Thanks for the warning though, I'll try not to die!"

"See to it that you don't," Ares said, lifting his head, “I do not wish to lose your brother’s good opinion.”

* * *

Hera was just as beautiful as Hypnos had always heard. Like the rest of the Olympians, she towered over Hypnos from her place at Zeus’s side, the peacock feathers of her mantle stabbing into the sun setting over the gardens behind them. Hypnos could see the expanse of his mother’s night sky reaching up to the horizon, chasing Helios across the heavens, but the pair before him held his eyes like a magnet. Ares clearly took after his mother, having inherited her white hair and smoldering red eyes, but his lust for violence could have stemmed from either of them. 

“Hermes could have brought this to you.” Zeus boomed, frowning down at Hypnos. 

The family resemblance between brothers was suddenly obvious in the darkness of their glares and their sheer size as Hypnos craned his neck to smile at the god. 

“Were he not slaving for your brother, perhaps,” Hera said. She held out her hand and Hypnos stepped forward to place the bottle of his sleeping aid in her outstretched palm, unsettled and determined not to show it. 

_When the sun sets,_ she’d commanded, _you shall put Zeus to sleep and keep him until I return._

Hera fluttered her hand past her husband’s hulking shoulders, waving her fingers impatiently in the direction of a waiting golden goblet seated on a side table. When Zeus stared at her hand in confusion, she scoffed. 

“The nectar? Or am I to sleep with the taste of the Underworld on my lips?” She flapped her hand again, curling her fingers into claws. Zeus rolled his eyes but obeyed, turning his back on his wife and Hypnos to cross the room. 

The sun slipped silently beneath the horizon. 

And Hypnos slipped silently behind Zeus. 

* * *

Hera was gone for three days. 

Nobody intruded upon Zeus’s chamber as Helios circled the earth again and again. Hypnos couldn’t hear so much as footsteps down the empty halls. 

It was made all the more alarming as Zeus began making efforts to wake only hours after Hera left. She’d said nothing to Hypnos as she left, shrugging her mantle from her shoulders, and he’d found his mouth dry up at the very thought of calling out. 

It was _hard_ to keep the unwilling asleep. 

Hard to pull them down again and again into dreams that required constant maintenance, constant upkeep. Hard to maintain his composure when Zeus’s dreams curled themselves into furious storms and promises of vengeance. 

* * *

At sunset on the third day, Hera returned with blood caked under her nails and splattered against her gown in a flutter of peacock feathers. 

“Release him,” She commanded, dismissing Hypnos with a flick of her wrist. 

“He’s uh, haha, pretty mad! And you look uh, um, you know what? It’s fine! Could you distract him? So I could, you know, leave?” Hypnos asked, holding a shaking hand out to maintain the dream as he edged for the door. 

“Oh, my dear,” Hera drawled, “you _are_ the distraction.” 

Something large and feathered and squawking slammed into the back of his knees, sending him crashing to the floor with a shout. 

A peacock crawled out from under his cloak, unfurling its vibrant feathers in warning. It hissed at him but the sound was drowned out by a crash of thunder that shook the whole of the acropolis. 

* * *

Hypnos managed to blink out of the room and halfway down the mountain before running out of steam, crumpling to his knees as the world danced around him in dizzying circles while the clouds screeched and writhed above. He hadn’t slept in days; insomnia turned his very blood into lead, and despite the horror clenching his heart as lightning bolts tore trees apart all around him, peppering him with razor shards of wood, he found himself struggling to stand. 

Was this how Zagreus felt as he dodged Asterius’s axe? His father’s spear? Was _this_ the terror he felt? 

The smell of ozone filled the air moments before a blinding pillar of lightning slammed into the ground before him. Hypnos tripped backward, leaping into the air as electricity sizzled against his skin. Zeus stood from the impact crater, glowing as lightning crackled in white-hot arcs across his skin. Although his eyes were glowing a brilliant, horrifying blue, Hypnos knew his glare was tracking his backward scuttle. 

“Lord Zeus,” Hypnos couldn’t hear his voice over the storm, but he knew it was shaking just as hard as his hands, “Let’s talk this out!” 

Zeus brandished a lightning bolt. It burned hotter than Asphodel even from a distance and hummed as Zeus hefted it above his shoulder.

“Or not!” Hypnos thought fleetingly of trying to run, but dismissed the idea when his legs refused to hold him. 

_I’m a capable, independent god,_ he thought, closing his eyes, _my problems are my own to solve._

* * *

Zagreus always made stepping from the Styx look painless and elegant, what with the way he shook its blood-red waters from his hair as he strolled through the unending flutter of snow-white flower petals that rained over the pool. 

Hypnos figured that practice must have made perfect as he clumsily clawed his way from its depths, weighed down by both his own Styx soaked cloak and a general inability to get his trembling legs to hold his weight. He pressed his cheek against the cool marble of the House’s floor, trying to quell the sudden urge to cry at the relief of being home. 

“Hypnos!” 

Thanatos sounded awful. His smooth voice cracked straight down the middle as if it too was shocked at his volume. Hypnos tried to respond, but nothing but a croak made it past his lips. 

It was instinct to cling back and press his face into Thanatos’s chest as he was hauled into his twin’s lap, but the feeling of Thanatos’s innate coolness and the lingering scent of poppies was so overwhelming that it tore a sob straight from his throat. 

(All at once, he was a child again, tormented by an unending stream of mortal nightmares with Thanatos pushing Mort into his hands. “They can’t hurt you,” Thanatos had sworn, as serious then as he was now, “I’ll protect you.”)

“Hypnos,” Thanatos said, his hand cradled the back of his neck, “Open your eyes. Wake up.” 

Hypnos tried, if only because of the wild edge to his brother's voice was so alarming. It was almost enough to distract from the distant sound of feet pounding towards them.

"Blood and darkness," Hypnos cursed, or more, slurred, as his tongue was less than cooperative as another shiver made his teeth clatter together, "That… that really hurt!"

He dragged increasingly heavy eyes up to the small crowd clustered around the pool, far too tired to be embarrassed by the attention. Queen Persephone had both of her hands pressed against her mouth and Zagreus was pressed tightly against her arm, mouth agape. Lord Hades towered behind them all, face hidden by the shadows of the hall with his hands gripping Hypnos's ledger. 

_Oh._

"Hypnos," Zagreus breathed, quickest to respond as always, "What happened?" 

"Unsatisfied customer," He said, "Those Olympians sure are a touchy bunch, huh? I have new respect for you, Zag! I wouldn't want to deal with them on the daily or nightly! Oh, Than! Lord Ares says hi!" 

"For once in your life take something seriously! What happened! You died! I felt… I felt you _die_. Why were you on Olympus? Why- !" Thanatos snarled, his grip going painfully tight around Hypnos's shoulders. 

"My child.” 

The darkness that had been swirling around the ceiling, muting the warm light cast by the massive candles, condensed into the ever regal form of his mother. Her edges bled into the shadows of the hall, completely blocking the light from the fireplace he knew to be behind her as she silenced Thanatos with a hand on his arm. 

Shame tugged Hypnos’s eyes to the floor, unwilling to see the disappointment in his mother’s face. 

“Hypnos,” She said, “You will explain to us what has occurred. Your death has caused much distress to the members of this house.” 

“I told you,” Hypnos said, he would have shrugged had Thanatos’s grip allowed him any movement, instead, he let himself slump further into his brother’s chest and put all of his effort into keeping his eyes open and trained on Than's winged pauldron. It was moving, just slightly as if it were fluttering. “An unsatisfied customer. A really, _really_ unsatisfied customer and lightning, which, I’ll have you know, is quite hard to dodge. It’s really not that big of a deal! I took care of it! It’s settled!”

“You requested a _single_ day off, Hypnos.” Hades said, “You have been gone for five days.” 

“I-” Hysterical giggles would not help, so Hypnos choked them down, finally meeting the fiery gaze of his boss, or his ex-boss, maybe, “I didn't mean to be gone that long! But you see, I- I had to!” 

“Explain to me, fully, what you did to earn my brother’s ire.” Hades commanded. 

“I, well. You see, Lord Hades, Hera needed to take care of something off Mount Olympus, but, well, I guess your lord brother wouldn’t let her go? So, she had me, uh, put him to sleep! For three days, which is why I was gone. Because well, the customer is always right and I had to keep him asleep until she came back, and let me tell you, it is _hard work_ to keep someone asleep if they really, really want to wake up!” Hypnos prayed for the Styx to swallow him again, if only to be rid of the eyes he could suddenly feel boring holes into him. “Which is not usually how I conduct my business, I’ll have you know. But well, she was very conniving. I mean, convincing! So when she came back, I let Lord Zeus wake up! And wow! _Wow_ , was he mad! Mad enough to use those lightning bolts of his to send me right back home, all quick like!” 

“It was not _quick_ , you fool.” Thanatos snarled, and even as his eyes slipped closed, Hypnos could see the growing green aura of his brother’s desire to leave pulse around them, “If you were keeping Zeus asleep for three days, then it took the Styx two to put you back together.” 

“That was the missive Hermes brought you then,” Hades rumbled. 

“Yes, I didn’t even know they knew about me up there!” 

“She wrote you herself?” 

“Yep!” 

“The seal was a lotus staff?” 

“Yep!”

“She threatened Zagreus.” Queen Persephone breathed, and Hypnos, pleased to see the line of questioning tapering into easier, single-syllable territory, answered without thinking. 

“Yep!” 

“ _What_?” Zagreus shouted and Hypnos snapped his eyes open when he realized the slip. Lord Hades had echoed his son, his voice making the very house shudder in rage.

“Wait! Wait, not directly! She wasn’t going to hurt you!” Hypnos said, “She was just going to prevent you from getting boons! No physical harm, no foul!” 

“Hypnos,” Persephone said, crouching to place her hands on his knee, “She got you _killed_.” 

Nyx moved into Hypnos’s line of sight and he immediately averted his gaze, suddenly desperate to defend himself from the shame their pity brought to his throat. 

He was so tired, but he knew they wouldn’t let him rest until they’d gotten their answers, even though he could feel his realm screaming out for his attention. 

“I know! I was the one that got vaporized, but I got better! It’s fine, I took care of it! It was my problem, so I solved it, on my own! Independently, even!" He looked away from the queen's pained expression but was too rattled by the warmth of her hands to try to shake her off. He pulled his eyes away from her tactile affection and up to Lord Hades’s glower. 

"I’m sorry I was gone for so long, Lord Hades, I swear it won’t happen again. Trust me when I say I have absolutely zero desire to go to the surface for the foreseeable future! If you just give me back my list, I can get back to work right now!” 

"Clearly not,” Nyx interrupted, “We shall continue this conversation later, after Hypnos has rested.”

"Of course, take your time. I'm happy to cover the work until this is settled." Queen Persephone said. She pulled her hands free and reached out to squeeze both Nyx's and Hypnos's arms before stepping back and herding Zagreus away. 

"Wait, I can do it!" Hypnos yawned, "I'm fine, I swear-" 

"Come, my child." Nyx said and proceeded to blow Hypnos's mind by wrapping her hand around his elbow. The entirety of his focus narrowed to the feeling of her fingertips against his skin even through his quilted cloak. He didn't notice their shift to Erebus or Thanatos settling beside him into his plush bed, too lost in the whiplash between the euphoria of her attention and the fear of her rebuke. 

"Sleep, we will discuss this further when you wake." Nyx said, pushing his eye mask over his face, and as always, Hypnos obeyed.


	2. Queen Mother, Mother Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hypnos," Nyx said, drawing his gaze, "Why did you not call for help?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's imagery was inspired by [this beautiful depiction of giant Nyx.](https://macbethoff.tumblr.com/post/639130103610277888/nyx)

When Hypnos woke, the realm of Sleep was once again in order and Thanatos, predictably, was gone from his side. 

His mother, however, was perched at the end of his bed, weaving a constellation between her fingers. When she saw he was awake, she dropped her hands and the delicate string of stars slipped like a necklace of diamonds from her fingertips, disappearing into the shadows of her dress. 

"Hypnos," she said, drawing his gaze, "Why did you not call for help?" 

"What?"

"Your brother and I would have come to your aid, my son." 

"You said I couldn't." He stuttered, too confused to try for levity, "You said-" Hypnos sat up against his plush headboard and twisted his blanket between his fingers. 

It was then that he noticed Thanatos looming in his mother's shadow. His cowl was pulled so far over his head that only his glowing golden eyes were visible. 

_I'm in trouble_ , Hypnos realized with a rush of panic. They both wouldn't be here, looking at him, speaking to him, if he wasn't. 

"I'm sorry," he blurted, "I thought… You told me not to talk to you anymore. I couldn't... that counts, right? Calling for help counts as talking, well, more yelling, but it's definitely speech! And asking for help is… well, it's the opposite of being independent? Right?" 

Thanatos's entire person was curling up and although Hypnos couldn't see his expression, he knew his brother didn't like what he was hearing. 

"Mom, uh, I mean, I'm sorry. Mother Nyx, I promise I didn't intend to leave the pool unattended for so long. I thought it was going to be in and out, quicker than Hermes. I didn't know it would take so long to come home. I admit, I wasted time by trying to run, but-" 

Thanatos disappeared with gong so loud it rattled his bones and his thoughts. Hypnos slammed his eyes closed and threw his hands over his ears, grimacing as the sound reverberated painfully through the room.

"Hypnos, my son." Nyx said mournfully, speaking before he could rally, "My distance was to help you learn independence, to grow into the god I know you to be. I did not intend to rob you of aid in a crisis." Her hands settled atop his and she pressed her forehead to his own, the coolness of her skin immediately soothing the pounding behind temples. "Growth can be painful, child; but this is not what I wished for you and for that I must apologize. I am shamed to have abandoned you in your time of need." 

"Mom, _no_." Hypnos said, afraid to open his eyes and realize he was dreaming, "It's fine, I'm sorry. It's finished."

"Hypnos, please open your eyes." Nyx said. 

Hypnos, who had never refused his mother anything, peeled his eyes open to find himself cradled in his mother's palms, surrounded by countless glimmering constellations. He reached out on instinct and caught a falling star, enraptured as always by the swirling rainbow of colors streaming from its core. When he and Thanatos were small, Nyx would cradle them in her hands just like this and tell them the story of the world she’d written in the stars. 

It was the safest place in the world. 

"Hypnos," Nyx said and her voice came from everywhere. She held him at eye level and he dropped the star at the seriousness of her expression, "Zeus and his queen have been made aware that their actions were unacceptable. I do not suspect you shall receive such requests from Olympus again. I am proud that you took such action to defend Prince Zagreus, despite the dire consequences; however, should you receive such threats again, you are to notify me and Lord Hades immediately." 

Hypnos nodded and Nyx leaned forward to press a kiss to the top of his head. He closed his eyes against a sudden prickling of tears and closed his hand around the cool crystal of darkness she pressed into his palms. 

"Be well, my Hypnos." 

When Hypnos opened his eyes he found himself back in the House of Hades, seated on his settee, his mother nowhere to be found. 

“Oh! Hypnos!” Queen Persephone zipped around from behind Lord Hades’s empty desk towards him, beaming. The flowers Zagreus had commissioned for the hall leaned towards her as she passed until she’d wrapped both of her hands around his. 

“Welcome back! You had us all so worried. Are you feeling alright?” She asked. She set his ledger down beside him and began fussing with his cloak. 

“Yes, your Majesty, I’m just fine! I’m sorry for the inconvenience!” 

She paused, and Hypnos realized that she’d been fretting in the same way he’d seen mortal mothers do in the lonely dreams of orphans; with affectionate, thoughtless touches that seemed designed to comfort both parties. 

“Hades is out to meet Zagreus right now, so you shall have to hear it from me.” She said, again grabbing his hands, “Hypnos, you are a part of this House and that affords you the same protection and benefits as everyone else. I’m… I’m so thankful that you did something so brave to protect Zagreus, but I know how the Olympians can be. I wouldn’t wish such a thing on anyone. Please, next time, let us help you. You need not face such threats alone.” 

Hypnos, for once, was speechless, overwhelmed by the Queen’s warmth and his mother’s apology. His chest jumped, surprising him, and he realized after a moment that he was a hair's breadth away from tears. 

“May I give you a hug?” Queen Persephone asked. Hypnos nodded and bent to hide his face in her shoulder when she immediately pulled him into her arms. It was odd, Hypnos thought distantly while he waited for his eyes to dry, that she always seemed so worried about doing a good job as a mother when she so obviously knew exactly what to do. 

The tell-tale bubbling of a new arrival at the Pool made Hypnos pull back, returning the Queen’s soft smile as she shifted to stand beside him. Together they greeted the king of the Underworld as he emerged from the Styx. 

“Welcome to the House of Hades! Thanks for dying!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Persephone constantly asking Zagreus if she's doing a good job as a mother gave me Feelings (TM)  
> I can't believe that she wouldn't see how isolated Hypnos is and not think, 'Another son?! For me?!?!'

**Author's Note:**

> While I love Nyx, her clear favoritism for Thanatos, and I suppose Zagreus as well hurts my heart. This fic was inspired by the shower thought that, in the game universe, Hypnos either wouldn't have the option to ask his mother for help or probably wouldn't even think to.


End file.
